Schemes, scams, frauds.

As a rule, any scheme that asks someone to accept money orders or
cashiers checks and then return money by wire to a party overseas
should be considered a scam.

One of the current schemes involves a scammer contacting someone
who has an item for sale on the Internet. The person pulling the
scam will send the seller a check for more than the amount of what
they are purchasing, like sending a $7,000 check for a $5,000 car.

They ask that the seller return the difference. By the time the
check clears and is discovered to be counterfeit, the seller is out
a couple thousand dollars.

The target is usually a person selling a relatively expensive item
on the Internet, or possibly even in newspaper classified ads. The
seller is approached by an individual, usually from a foreign country,
who wants to buy the item and pay with a cashier’s check.

The buyer then says that he or she can only send a cashier’s
check for an amount greater than the price of the item, and asks
the seller to mail back a check for the difference. The difference
may be several thousand dollars. The unsuspecting victim sends the
buyer the difference and only later finds out the cashier’s
check was counterfeit.

What makes this plot work is that most people place great confidence in cashier’s checks. Cashier’s checks are generally considered much safer than personal checks, since they are issued by financial institutions that have already verified the existence of sufficient funds. Personal checks can “bounce” when there are insufficient funds in the check writer’s account; cashier’s checks do not bounce.

The counterfeits are generally of excellent quality and may even
fool the bank initially.
Unfortunately, this scam can harm innocent citizens twice. Under some
state laws, the bank may be considered the actual victim of the crime,
while the citizen is may be viewed as the perpetrator for passing the
counterfeit check.

Adding further to the deviousness of the scheme is the fact that the criminal does not ask for an advance fee. More and more people are savvy enough to recognize the request for an advance fee as the tell-tale sign of the so-called Nigerian fraud.

The counterfeit cashier’s check scam has found a way to disguise this red flag. The consumer is offered a large sum to deposit, so the refund check seems to be covered.

In order to avoid detection by the fraud department of Western Union,
the scammers are now asking that the larger amounts be sent in two
or more smaller transfers.

While there has been a huge increase in the use of counterfeit cashier's
checks by Nigerians in the later part of 2003, this article clearly
indicates it has taken a while to perfect this online scam.

Counterfeiters switch to cashier's checks

By Laura Bruce • Bankrate.com

Cashier's checks have always had a reputation for being as good
as cash, but that's not a sure thing anymore. The reputation has
gotten tarnished as more and more counterfeiters opt to phony-up
cashier's checks and pass them off to folks like you.

"People are getting sophisticated with PCs and scanners. We're
going to be seeing a lot more of this," says Marty Ramage, fraud
expert with The People's Bank & Trust Company of Tupelo, Miss.

Ramage says one of his bank's cashier's checks was counterfeited
a few weeks ago.

The way it works is the counterfeiter comes into the bank, gets
a legitimate cashier's check and then uses a scanner to copy it on
to a computer. With the help of some printing software, the counterfeit
can be doctored -- payable to anyone, for any amount.

"It's put a bind on our bank on accepting cashier's checks," Ramage
says. "In the past we would have taken a cashier's check from
any bank across the nation without question. All banks have been
accustomed to treating cashier's checks as cash. Not anymore. Everyone
has to take some safeguards."

The FDIC is receiving reports of several fake cashier's checks each
month.

"Some are complete phonies -- the bank name is phony, the city
is misspelled. But some are identical copies, and it's really difficult
to tell they're fake," according to Gene Seitz of the FDIC's
special activity section.

Seitz says very few of the counterfeit cashier's checks are being
cashed at banks; they're being used to pay individuals and merchants.

Seitz advises everyone who receives a cashier's check as payment
to call the issuing bank and make sure it authorized that check.

That means consumers should think twice before accepting a cashier's
check no matter how real it looks. If someone tries to give you a
$2,000 cashier's check for your used car, or a $30 cashier's check
for something you're selling on Ebay, don't accept the payment until
the issuing bank has verified it.

The scam involves foreigners who answer classified ads or bid on
items through online auctions.

The scammers offer to buy an item and send payment through a cashier's
check that is written for an amount significantly more than the item's
price.

The buyer then contacts the seller and says the cashier's check
was written in error. The person asks the seller to wire transfer
the difference -- typically several thousand dollars.

The cashier's check turns out to be counterfeit and is returned
to the seller's bank and taken out of the seller's account with no
recourse for recovery.

Don't Chat With a Rat

An Internet-based scam to defraud people of cash starts in chat
rooms on the Internet where participants tell a hardship story, usually
involving having a large check they cannot cash in their own country,
usually Nigeria or another West African country.

The suspects in these incidents tell their fellow chat room participants
that if they will cash the check, the person cashing it can keep a portion
of the proceeds for themselves.

Once the victim agrees, he or she will receive a check in the mail, along
with instructions on where to send the remainder of the proceeds after
keeping the portion they have been promised. The problem is the accounts
are false and the checks are fraudulent.

Nigerian Check Scam Bust

By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 01/18/04
( excerpt )

A small game of deceit played out two weeks ago in North Versailles.

On Jan. 2, a United Parcel Service deliveryman showed up at a Della
Drive apartment with a package addressed to Ken Smith.

A man answered the door and signed for the parcel, which contained
more than $200,000 worth of cashier's checks.

But nothing was as it seemed.

The UPS man was really a U.S. postal inspector.

Ken Smith was really a Nigerian named Adebayo B. Adedimila.

And the cashier's checks? Counterfeit.

Adedimila, 28, was taken into custody and faces charges in federal
court of trying to defraud 20 people in an Internet auction scheme
that is increasingly popular among endlessly resourceful Nigerians.

But it's the auction scheme that is proving more lucrative.

"This is 10 times larger than that," said U.S. Postal
Inspector Andrew Richards, head of the Financial Crimes Task Force
of Southwestern Pennsylvania. "Instead of going for $60 million,
they're going for $6,000. They're going for smaller amounts and they
are being incredibly successful."

Typically, a Nigerian will contact a person trying to sell something
on Internet auction sites such as eBay.

He tells the seller that he has a "friend" in the United
States who owes him money. He says the friend will send the seller
a cashier's check, but the check will be for a few thousand dollars
more than the item costs.

The check is then shipped to the cohort in the United States --
this was Adedimila's role, federal agents say -- who sends it to
the unsuspecting seller through the U.S. mail.

Finally, the buyer asks the seller to send back the extra money
by Western Union wire. Some do, and never see their money again.

"Often, the sellers act as requested and wire the additional
funds prior to the cashier's check being returned as counterfeit
to the seller's bank," said Postal Inspector Joseph Bell in
a search warrant affidavit for Adedimila's apartment. "This
scheme has affected thousands of victims across the United States
and resulted in the loss of millions of dollars."

Some potential victims are smart enough not to be taken.

Two men in Michigan and Georgia were potential marks for Adedimila
and his partner in Lagos, Nigeria, who sometimes used the name David
Nelson online.

Chris Odom, a photographer from Athens, Ga., was contacted by Nelson
last month when he was trying to sell a Nikon camera for $3,750 on
a professional sports photography auction site.

Nelson initially bid $4,000.

But later he sent this note, written in the kind of halting English
that agents say scammers use to make themselves seem authentic:

"Hello Chris, I must tell you that payment will be in excess
of $8,000. I have contacted a friend of mine owing me in USA to make
the payment on my behalf to you. I have also instructed him to issue
out the check for the amount of $8,000 on your name. After you might
have received the check from my client you will need to deduct the
cost (of the camera) and have my balance sent to me through Western
Union money transfer to London, England, and through my personal
assistance name. Reason is because I'm presently out of town for
a professional conference in South Africa. David Nelson."

Odom thought the request was bizarre.

"I had a suspicion it was some sort of scam," he said
last week.

"If you are serious, you do not need to send a money order
to me for $8,000," he wrote back. "The [camera] is for
$4,000 and that is well enough with shipping and insurance."

William Corne III, 19, of Saginaw, Mich., didn't fall for the scheme,
either. He was selling a subwoofer on eBay for $170, but Nelson wanted
to send him $5,000.

"I thought it was ridiculously strange," he said.

Nelson sent the cashier's checks anyway, and did the same for 20
others he had contacted in the U.S. and Canada.

Agents say that's typical, because while most potential marks won't
wire back any money, one or two might.

"It's definitely a volume business," Eisenbeiser said.

It works in part because the cashier's checks look so good.

"I've seen them. I defy you to tell they are not real," said
Barbara Petito, spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office.

But Nelson apparently didn't count on "Operation Tidalwave," an
international crackdown on Nigerian fraud.

On Dec. 23, British customs agents at London's Heathrow Airport
intercepted a package of checks originating from Lagos and bound
for Ken Smith in North Versailles.

Inspectors found $226,000 worth of phony cashier's checks in the
names of Odom, Corne and 18 others. Postal inspectors set up a delivery
in which one of them would pose as a deliveryman. That's what happened
Jan. 2, when Adedimila was arrested.

The U.S. attorney's office asked that he be detained as a flight
risk, but a federal magistrate released him to stay with a Nigerian
friend in Turtle Creek. No one there could be reached for comment.

Love on Loan - Opens Heart, Empties Account

PITTSFIELD, MA 02/04 -- She met him on the Internet through an online
dating service. The information said he lived in Bethesda, Md., owned
two businesses and traveled to Africa for conferences.

They corresponded every day online for about a month. Gradually,
he made her feel more comfortable.

"I thought I got to know him pretty well," she said yesterday. "Who
knows what's accurate now, but he seemed like a nice guy and a family
man."

That was before the "nice guy" took her for $3,500.

In what state police say is a new version of a old scam involving
residents of Nigeria trying to obtain money from U.S. citizens, a
man recently scammed a Clarksburg woman out of $3,500 when she cashed
a cashier's check sent to her from an address in Maryland, presumably
to help her new friend pay off a debt. She sent the money in two
installments to her new friend at an address in Lagos, Nigeria.

A few days after cashing the check at a local bank, the bank informed
her the check had been drawn on a fraudulent account, leaving her
responsible for the funds. She said she has had to take out a bank
loan to pay it off.

"I hemmed and hawed for four days before going to do it," said
the woman, who spoke to The Eagle under the condition that her name
be withheld. "I should have listened to my gut."

04/08/04 - People in Notts using auction websites including eBay
to sell their possessions are being conned by people posing as legitimate
customers. Reporter GUY WOODFORD investigates what can go wrong and
how people can make sure they don't fall into the traps set by internet
fraudsters

The man called himself Teje - and he had just bid £6,000 on eBay for
a motorbike being sold by a man from the south of Nottinghamshire.

The seller was happy with the price - and happier still when a cheque
for £8,400 arrived in the post.

The extra £2,400 was for haulage costs, and the seller thought he had
got a good deal.

"Teje said he would send a cheque for me to deposit and, after it had cleared,
to take £6,000 out for the motorbike and send on the remaining money to an address
he gave me in London," he said.

"When I received the cheque it appeared genuine.

"I deposited the cheque at my local Halifax branch on January 28 and my
bank receipt said funds would be available from February 2 [three working days].

"I drew out £1,000 on February 2, and a further £1,400 the following day
without trouble - and sent the money via Western Union money transfer to an alternative
address in Amsterdam that Teje had given."

But then things began to go wrong.

"I thought everything was fine until Teje e-mailed on February 3 to ask
for more money to help pay for his mother's medical care," the victim said.

"I went back to my branch the next day to express my concern and the bank
manageress looked up the cheque deposit and found that it had bounced.

"I asked why I had been able to get the money, if the cheque had not cleared,
and she said that customers could draw on cheques after three days even though
they might not necessarily have cleared.

"I was astounded. If the cheque hadn't cleared why did the cashier not say
anything when I went in to make withdrawals on it over two consecutive days."

He added: "I've still got my motorbike, but I'm having to pay £2,400
back to the bank."

The unnamed victim is keen to highlight his story so that others do not
repeat his mistake.

He added: "This Teje person later phoned me up and asked if I had
been trying to get in touch with him.

Detective Sgt Harry Parsonage said they were getting one to three cases
referred to them every month.

"The people doing this are usually from abroad, predominantly Africa, which
makes them very hard to trace," said Det Sgt Parsonage.

"Some people recognise that something is not right and don't part with any
money, but, unfortunately, others do.

"It may be that they want a quick sale, or a cheque or banker's draft appears
to be real and the seller's tale genuine.

"These fraudsters will be e-mailing hundreds, if not thousands, of people
selling items on the internet. If only one per cent of those fall for their act,
they can still make a lot of money.

"Our advice would be that, if you doubt a buyer's claims at any time, don't
agree to any sale."

The fraudsters' scam rests on the fact that the haulage companies they
tell their victims to pay money into are fakes.

In fact, they have set up these companies themselves - and the money
goes straight into the conmen's pocket. But they are not always successful.

Philip Jenkins, 37, received an e-mail from a Dr Scott, in Botswana,
offering £2,600 for a motorhome he was selling.

Dr Scott sent a banker's draft for £6,000, asking Mr Jenkins to take
out the cost of the motor home and send the remainder of the money back
to an address in Syria.

Mr Jenkins, from Manton, near Worksop, did not attempt to cash the banker's
draft - but phoned Notts Police fraud squad instead. It is now investigating
the incident.

"The first few e-mails from Doctor Scott said he was keen to buy a motorbike
for his son and he liked what I was selling," said Philip.

"He clearly didn't understand the difference between a motor home and a
motorbike.

"Then I got sent a £6,000 International Bank of Ireland bankers draft in
the name of a Dr Smith. It looked very authentic - but my gut instinct was that
something was wrong.

"Whoever this person was, he was not getting a penny out of me."

The new scam has raised concerns, however, at the way in which some banks
deal with cashing and clearing cheques.

Jason Clarke, press officer for the Halifax, said it was the bank's policy
to allow customers to withdraw money before a cheque has cleared.

He said he could not comment in detail on the case of the Notts man who
paid out £2,400 until his complaint has been dealt with.

But he added: "The receipt this customer has got quite clearly says
that funds are available - but that does not mean that the cheque had
cleared.

"The customer still has a responsibility, under the management of his account,
to pay back any funds from a cheque that has bounced.

"Our advice when selling a car or other personal item for a large sum, is
to never, ever, accept a personal cheque.

"Always insist on a banker's draft or a building society cheque, as they
won't bounce."

But Sandra Quinn, of the Association of Payment and Clearing Services,
which represents all banks operating clearing systems, said that bank
customers were "usually" under no obligation to pay back the
amount of a fraudulent cheque, if it had been wrongly cashed.

She said: "The issue of when a cheque can be cashed, as opposed
to when it has cleared, is coming up time and again across the country.

"Bank terms and conditions vary, but generally a bank that cashes a cheque
does not have the right to demand money back.

"The banking ombudsman takes a strong line against banks that have paid
out on fraudulent cheques.

"It can order a bank to pay a compensation award to a customer, on top of
the value of a refunded cheque.

"Anyone who is not happy with the verdict of their bank's complaints procedure
can take their case to the banking ombudsman."

Anyone who would like to report an internet auction con, or wants to
find out more about how they can protect themselves, can call Notts Police
fraud squad on 0115 967 0999.

excerpt - thisisnottingham.co.uk

Residents warned of Nigerian check scam

By TOMMY HAYNES - Paragould Daily Press 04/0704

Arkansas - According to Ron Stephens, president of Unico Bank, a
few individuals from Paragould have fallen prey to a fraudulent scheme
coined the "Nigerian Check Scam."

According to Stephens, this is how the scam works:

Those participating in the scam will attempt to make contact with possible victims, asking them to wire money to them in exchange for a cashier's check.

They will then send a phony cashier's check for the amount, or possibly more, of cash they wish to receive. The victim then typically cashes the phony cashier's check, wires the money to the individual, and is left owing the bank money when it is determined that the check is not good.

At least three incidents of this scam have been seen by officials
from Unico Bank within the past few weeks.

According to Stephens, one woman had made contact with an individual who she thought she had befriended over a period of a few weeks.

After trust had been obtained through internet conversation, the
individual asked if he could send the woman a cashier's check and
receive money in return. She agreed to cash the check, which turned out to be $4,800.

In the end, she was the one who was required to pay the bank, as
the $4,800 she sent was not good.

Stephens stated that individuals should always be skeptical of individuals they meet over the internet who are interested in making monetary transactions.

If one does decide to pursue such endeavors, Stephens encourages individuals to make sure that the funds are good before cashing them. All it takes is a simple call to the bank from which the cashier's check originated.

Often times, such as in the instance of the aforementioned woman,
the check may include the name of a real bank. In addition, the information
on the check may appear to be legitimate. In fact, calling the bank
to ensure that the money is good is often the only tool one can use.

With one simple call, possible scam victims could potentially save
a considerable amount of money if they take the time to check.

"If you receive a cashier's check in the mail, call the bank
and verify that it's good," Stephens said.

Stephens stated that tellers at Unico Bank have been alerted of
the presence of the scam, and that they will constantly be on the
lookout. However, this is sometimes not enough, as some fraudulent
checks appear so legitimate that they will slip past some tellers.

"Most people think ‘this is a cashier's check so it must
be good,'" Stephens said. "But it could be fraudulent.
Know who you're taking the check from and verify the funds before
cashing it."

Internet Auction Bad Check Fraud

A "buyer" will approach the seller
via e-mail. That person, usually from Nigeria, the Netherlands
or England, claims an associate or client in the United States
owes him money and then sends the seller a cashier's check for
more money than what is needed for the sale.

The buyer then requests
the seller deposit the check and deduct the amount for the sale
and shipping and then wire the balance back to him at his address.

What happens is the seller deposits the check. The bank will hold it
for a day or two and then give the seller the money. Once the seller
receives the money, he becomes responsible for it.

It is usually days later when the seller discovers the check was counterfeit
and they now owe money to their bank.

These guys come across as legitimate buyers, but in the middle of things
they'll start rushing the seller saying they need the money right away. One
of them told a seller his mother had died and he needed the money for
a funeral.

Online fraud strikes valley as Local bankers detect more scams

By Craig Wolf -
Poughkeepsie Journal

05/06/04 - In a world that's increasingly online and global, it's no surprise
that fraud is, too. But old scams in new guises are taking local consumers
by surprise -- and costing them thousands.

An alarm was put out Wednesday by a local financial institution about
frauds, most of which occur over the Internet and overseas.

"It seems to be growing by leaps and bounds," said Paul Stull, spokesman
for Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union. "A lot of folks are losing money."

Vincent Curcio, of the Town of Poughkeepsie, had a close call that nearly
cost him $7,800. Curcio offered his 1998 Honda Accord on an auto Web
site and got an offer of $9,200 from a man who claimed to be in Britain.

"Then he called ...and said he was going to send me a check for $17,000.
I was supposed to Western Union $7,800 to his shipper in Houston, Texas,"
Curcio said. He deposited the check and wired the funds.

Five days later, "The bank notified me that the check was counterfeit."

"I got lucky because I tracked the order status on the Western Union
site. It said the funds were not picked up yet," he said. "I quickly
called them and told them to cancel it. I got my money back, minus their
fee of $324. I'm still out $324, but it could have been a lot worse."

Stull said the car fraud is the most common and costs members an average
of $4,500.

Another scam is phony jobs on job-search sites. The "employment" involves
processing payments, and sure enough, a payment comes into the person's
account. Then comes a call that there's been a mistake and instructions
to refund some money. The victim finds too late that the incoming check
is bad. His outgoing check is good -- but gone.

"These victims have no one to help them," Stull said. "There's no
way for the police to go after someone in a foreign country."

Other bankers see similar trouble. "In the past year, there seems to
be an increase in this type of activity," said Stephen Kelly, president
of Rhinebeck Savings Bank.

Ulster County Consumer Fraud Bureau Director Jonathan VanVlack said
the car scam is a modern variation on what's known as the old "bulletin
board" scheme.

"We used to have bulletin boards in the supermarket. Now we have bulletin
boards on the Internet," VanVlack said.

FRAUD RED FLAGS

- A cashier's check for something you have sold over the Internet.

- A request to wire or otherwise return part of a check's proceeds to
a third party.

05/29/04 - A Henrico County woman believed she had found the perfect
buyer for a wedding dress she was selling on the Internet.

A man who said he lived in Spain e-mailed the woman, offering to pay
$400 above her $250 asking price.

To the woman's delight, the man offered other financial incentives as
well. All she had to do was cash and deposit into her personal account
a $4,500 third-party check, which would be mailed to her.

She could keep $650 for the dress, $250 for shipping it overseas and
an additional $150 as a fee for wiring him the balance of the check,
more than $3,000. The deal, which sounded too good to be true, proved
to be just that.

The authentic-looking check was counterfeit. The fraud, however, wasn't
discovered until after the woman had deposited the fake BB&T check
into her First Market Bank account and sent the con artist the balance.

The woman, who doesn't want to be identified, is now stuck with a $4,500
loss. Her bank account has been frozen until the money can be repaid.

Police say the woman is one of the area's latest victims in a scam that
is being perpetrated nationally, as a growing number of people peddle
personal items on the Internet. The Henrico woman advertised her dress
on a local Web site.

"This is really getting to be a big crisis here," said Henrico
police Sgt. Steve Quesinberry. "I'd say at least once a month we
get a case like this that involves not just a couple of dollars, but
several thousands of dollars."

The thieves play on the seller's excitement of making a larger than
expected sale and reaping unforeseen profits.

This week, Quesinberry learned of yet another scam victim in Henrico
who was swindled out of $9,100 in a similar scheme. The victim advertised
on the Internet a recreational vehicle he was selling for $4,000, and
a "buyer" agreed to pay the asking price with a $9,100 check.

But as with the earlier case, the victim didn't learn the check he received
was fake until after he deposited into his account and wired $5,100 to
the "buyer." The victim was told the excess funds were to be
used to ship the vehicle from Richmond to New York, and then on to Fulham,
England.

The scam, police say, is a variation of what's known as the Nigerian
Advance Scheme, where people - who in many cases claim to be Nigerian
businessmen or civil servants - entice victims to share in phony financial
windfalls and then hook them into contributing large sums of money to "save" the
business deal or venture.

The scheme "grosses hundreds of millions of dollars annually and
the losses are continuing to escalate," according to the U.S. Secret
Service Web site. "In all likelihood, there are victims who do not
report their losses to authorities because of either fear or embarrassment."

In the recent Henrico cases, which are scaled-down versions of the scheme,
swindlers agree to "advance the money to you [in the form of a phony
check], you give them a refund, and somewhere in the middle you get short-changed
out of good money," Quesinberry said.

The thieves typically claim to have personal-injury settlement checks
from insurance companies or other businesses, or to have received payments
through inheritances.

"They'll say, 'I've got this check that I've got to get rid of.
Can you help me out?'" Quesinberry said. "They use every type
of story you can think of."

In the Henrico woman's case, the man said he had a business partner
in Richmond who owed him $4,500, and the partner would be sending him
a check. The check the woman received was in an envelope with an Italian
postmark.

Quesinberry said one of the biggest mistakes scam victims make is not
verifying the authenticity of the check before depositing it into their
account and sending the balance to the "buyer." Had the Henrico
woman gone to the bank from which the check had been purportedly drawn,
she would have immediately learned it was fake.

"Instead, she went to her own bank and deposited it into her account," Quesinberry
said. "By the time it got all the way to BB&T, she had already
sent the people the money."

The good news is that the woman may be reimbursed by her insurance company.
She said her loss appears to be covered by a clause in her policy pertaining
to identify-theft fraud.

Quesinberry said the woman's experience, while unfortunate, can be instructive
to others.

"We're trying to tell people, just slow down a little bit and don't
get so excited," he said. "Stop and think for a second. Is
this really on the up and up? Maybe I'll have less customers if they
do."

Chat Room Check Cashing Scam

Some con artists take their time, as one businessman discovered.

He and what he thought was a sincere female friend chatted on the Internet
for a period of six months. When "she" notified him "she" was
working overseas and needed him to cash a check and send to a Nigeria
address, the man complied. He cashed the $3,500 cashier check and passed
it on via Western Union.

Within a week, he discovered he owed the local bank $3,500 because the
check was fraudulent. To send that large amount of money costs
the victim another $200.

It is easy for con artists to misrepresent themselves over the Internet. They
can send anyone's picture. You might think you're e-mailing a 29-year-old
blonde and you're talking to a 50-year-old, 300 pound man from Nigeria.
They could have several of these scams going at one time.

That Boat Has Already Sailed

01/05 - MD - A Nigerian in London swindled an Annapolis man out of more
than $10,000 after convincing him to cash a counterfeit check for a yacht
and wire the money overseas, city police said this week.

The fraudulent check, totalling $10,700, was for a boat that Karl
Hutchinson had just sold over the Internet to another buyer.

The emailer had been negotiating with Mr. Hutchinson over the yacht for
some time before it was sold. When Mr. Hutchinson told the man it had
been sold, the man said he had already sent Mr. Hutchinson a cashier's
check.

The man then asked Hutchinson to cash the check and wire the money back
to him, according to a police report.

After depositing the check in his account and wiring the money on Dec.
23, Hutchinson learned the check had been canceled. Officials with Bank
of America have refused to waive the lost amount, according to the police
report.

The same scam was perpetrated last March in Kent Island, where a woman
lost $9,000 to a fraudulent cashier's check for a yacht she was trying
to sell on the Internet.

Mechanics of Overpayment Scam Scenario

When a person advertises the sale of an item or a room for rent, the
suspect will contact the seller by e-mail to show interest in the item.

Often the suspect will agree to the purchase without trying to negotiate
a lower price. The suspect then offers to pay with a money order, cashier's
cheque or regular cheque, it said.

When the seller receives the cheque, it is made out for much more than
the price of the item they're selling. The scammer then e-mails the seller,
says the amount is a mistake and asks if the seller will wire transfer
the difference back via Western Union or Moneygram.

When the seller does this and cashes the cheque it turns out to be counterfeit,
stolen or forged, and the money they have wired to the crook is long
gone.

Some scammers may even follow up the initial transaction with phone
calls to make themselves seem trustworthy.

In-depth fraud coverage of computer crimes such as pyramid schemes make this economic crime library of internet crimes the cyber crime location for the schemes, scams and swindles that con artists and shonks perpetrate.